


Chooser

by Mad_Birdy



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Angst, Gen, Genderfluid Loki (Marvel), Multi, it'll be finished just before the movie comes out and then it'll get a sequel after IW2, this fic is what will be sustaining me until the next infinity war movie
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-20
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-09 06:00:58
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,204
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14710442
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Mad_Birdy/pseuds/Mad_Birdy
Summary: Valkyries are the choosers of the slain, escorting half of those fallen in battle to Valhalla. As reward for their faithful service, they are granted the ability to restore life to one person, but only one. Brunnhilde, last of the Valkyries, has never used her choice... until now.An Infinity War rewrite, where our Valkyrie makes a choice, and thus the story is altered.





	Chooser

The Valkyrie watched from the shadows, hidden under a pile of rubble and assumed dead. She watched as Loki offered his service as a guide to Thanos, was the only one who saw the way Loki’s hands shook minisculely. She remembered what he'd said to her, hunched in on himself in the darkness of a corridor: “I can't. I can't face him again, Val,  _ I can't. _ ”

She noticed the glance Loki sent to Thor as he materialized a blade into the hand hidden behind his back; she knew the look was goodbye, though Thor likely didn't realize. She watched, biting back a scream of rage as the life was choked out of Loki. The need to rush out and attack Thanos for the death of someone she cared about nearly overwhelmed her, but she knew time was running out. With any luck, the escape pods containing the few Asgardian civilians who evaded the children of Thanos would be well on their way by now, cloaked and heading for the nearest star system in order to find new transportation to Earth. The Valkyrie had only stayed behind because she knew her skills were needed with her king.

Her king, who was, at the moment, falling over himself to get to Loki, having been freed from his restraints before Thanos set the ship to blow up. He screamed his anguish and sorrow, and Valkyrie shoved through metal to get to him. “Thor!” she shouted, but he did not hear her over the roar of the explosions. There was a searing brightness, and then all was dark.

~~~

Slowly, her eyes opened, and she found herself drifting among the wreckage of the Grandmaster’s stolen ship. Strange movement at the corner of her eye caught her attention, and she grabbed a piece of metal nearby to use as leverage so she could get a better view. There was a small, brightly-colored ship weaving through the ruins, and the Valkyrie figured they must have received the distress signal. Too late. She stayed in place as well as she could, not wanting to draw attention to herself - Allfathers only knew who piloted the ship and what they would do with her should they pick her up - and soon the ship was gone.

Carefully, she began to move through the wreckage, searching for Loki and Thor; or at least, anything that was left of them. After a time, she found the younger of the brothers. Loki’s cape had caught on a large piece of metal, leaving his body suspended and still. Valkyrie used her boot knife to cut the cape into strips, using them to tie Loki’s body to herself so that her hands could still be free to move them through the wreckage. She tapped the tracking beacon on her belt, knowing the recipient of the call would respond soon, and kept moving.

She over-calculated her next movement, which sent her spinning off into darkness, away from the wreckage. Cursing herself, she wrapped her body close to preserve her own body heat - even with the life force of an Asgardian, and a Valkyrie to boot, she still could die out here if not found soon enough. As for Loki… 

His skin was beginning to ice over, blue and cracked in some places. She could make out ice crystals on his lashes and where the blood had dripped from his mouth and nose. Dark blue blood - she remembered. She had been there, after all, at the fight on Jotunheim. Remembered riding behind Odin as he decimated the Frost Giants. She’d watched from the edge of the room as the Allfather had gathered up a squealing, blue-skinned babe, and taken it for his own. Odin had taken the young Jotun, despite the Valkyrie’s warning that such a child would only bring misfortune upon the house of the king.

She hadn’t been wrong, though the misfortune of the king and his family was, for the most part, of the king’s own doing, a result of poor choices and too many secrets. And now here they were: Odin dead, as well as Frigga; the Valkyries diminished to one lone soldier; Thor missing, possibly dead; Loki, most certainly dead; and the Asgardian people reduced to a mere two hundred souls, heading Allfathers knew where in search of safe harbor.

Well. She could change at least  _ one _ thing about that list of tragedies. Valkyrie pressed her forehead to Loki’s, closing her eyes to focus her mind. Despite how long it had been since she last petitioned the allfathers, the words came to her as though she had served on a battlefield only yesterday. “Allfathers,” she said, voice instantly quieted by the void of space. “Grant me a life. The Valkyries have been the bearers of valiant souls, and as the last of us, I ask for a favor to repay my faithful service. Restore life unto Loki, Odinsson, Prince of Asgard, rightful King of Jotunheim. He has made mistakes due to childish anger and grief, due to betrayal and lies, but he yet has potential to serve you honorably. Restore his life and I swear upon my own that I shall guide him on the path.”

She heard no answer, but as she opened her eyes, she saw that the blue was receding from Loki’s skin. A small smile crossed her lips and grew wider as a blinding flash of light indicated the arrival of another ship. She recognized it immediately as one of the much smaller fighter ships that had been stored onboard the Grandmaster’s ship as a form of self-defense. It maneuvered itself precisely so that the path that Valkyrie and Loki were on intersected with the ship’s open hold door. They landed inside with a thud, and then the door shut the cold and dark of space out of view.

“Perfect timing,” Valkyrie said as the pilot walked into the hold. She busied herself with untying Loki from herself so that she could carry him easier, then looked up at the pilot. “Oh, hey Sif. I didn’t know you’d made it to one of the fighters.”

The Lady Sif smiled. “As soon as you said you were taking civilians to the pods, I ran for the fighters and took some of the older girls with me. We’ve been escorting the pods, but I left them when I got the signal from your beacon.” She looked at the man in Valkyrie’s arms and frowned. “You didn’t find Thor?”

“No, I miscalculated a push and spun out of control before I could find him. I need a place to lay Loki down. Do a sweep of the area, look for life signs. If Loki and I survived, so did Thor.” Sif nodded and went back to the cockpit.

The Valkyrie looked around, knowing a ship that small wouldn’t have much extra space, and managed to spot an empty ledge in the wall, just long enough to lay Loki in it. She used the torn cape to craft a makeshift pillow and placed it under his head, then smoothed the hair back from his face. He would need time to heal. Hopefully finding a new ship for the Asgardian refugees would take a little longer than expected.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave kudos and/or comments! I'll update more often if I see that people are enjoying it ;)


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